


Twisted Times

by JuweWright



Series: 30 for 30 [5]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Adult Hermione Granger, Alternate Universe - No Voldemort, Baby Harry Potter, F/M, Godfather Sirius Black, Hot Chocolate, Sirius Black & Remus Lupin Friendship, Sirius Black Lives, Tea, Time Travel, Young Sirius Black
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-12
Updated: 2018-03-15
Packaged: 2019-03-30 11:12:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13950363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JuweWright/pseuds/JuweWright
Summary: Ministry worker Hermione accidentally ends up further back in time than she intended to go. She bumps into young Remus and Sirius. Stuck in the past until the time-turner-effect wears off, she decides to spend some time with the two friends. - After all, the rules are, she'll have to obliviate them before going back to the here and now anyways.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is an AU in which Voldy never came back. There was no War. Thus,almost everyone lives, Sirius did not end up in Azkaban, the Malfoys are entitled noble aristocrats with a tendency to collect forbidden magical objects. You get the gist. The rest will be explained. I hope there are no all-too-obvious plot holes in it. ;-) Also, I deviated a little bit from what my prompter probably had in mind, but she said “be creative” and this was what happened. It was supposed to be a one-shot but I noticed after 10 pages, that it’s going to be longer than that. So I guess, 5 chapters max will happen here.
> 
> Also, I wrote a fic with a baby in it... I don't know if that is a sign I have finally fallen into the dreaded hormone trap of doom. 
> 
> This fic is for o.0 rosa o.0 (find her on FFnet!) who prompted it.

Part 1

It was her fault. Okay, and Malfoy’s fault, because he had been an irritating git. But then Malfoy was hardly ever anything else and she should have been used to it and it should not have let her lose count on how often she fiddled with the time turner. She had only wanted to jump back a month. Just a month. To keep Mundungus Fletcher from stealing the Harlem Convent’s holy copper kettle and thus save the Ministry a whole lot of trouble and also avoid a dozen furious warlocks and witches blasting the main hall to pieces threatening to start a civil war. To use the words of Draco “The Irritating Git” Malfoy: “What a fuss about a stupid pot!” 

For once, she had to agree with him. It had been easy enough to get the allowance to use the time turner for this. Nobody wanted another war. Especially not with Harlem. These guys were skilled in the old ways of magic and were not afraid to use them. They were definitely scarier than the self-obsessed Lord Voldemort had been in his days, before he had blasted himself to pieces. 

“Bugger”, she exclaimed when she realized she had been in the backwards-spiral through time for much longer than intended. Her hand had slipped because Malfoy had made a comment he shouldn’t have made. And one that shouldn’t have bothered her even when he made it, but it was just incredible how he still managed to topple her off balance. After five years of working together one would think she’d have gotten used to his arrogance and his pride - and she had. She had just not gotten used to the fact that Draco Malfoy did not miss any opportunity to flirt with her.

“Bugger”, she said again, watching the time turner in her hand. Her fingers had slipped just a little - but the mechanics were delicate and a little bit of pressure could lead to quite a lot of spinning. She had absolutely no clue when she would end up. 

#

“I am so sorry, Moony!”

“I told you this was a bad idea.”

“They are idiots, man.”

“They are bloody right when they say, I am a threat to the pupils and shouldn’t be allowed to teach. I turn into a blood-thirsty beast every full moon, Merlin’s pants!”

“Pah! You’d be a brilliant teacher. Who cares about your monthlies? I’d still like to know who spilled the beans about your furry little problem, by the way. Whoever it was, he’s going to regret it when I find out.”

“Don’t go around threatening to kill someone. Some of the people around here still believe you should be in Azkaban. And I still don’t know how Dumbledore managed to convince them it wasn’t you.”

“Want to know a secret?”

“Yeah?”   
  


“He knew where I was that night and he didn’t like it much, but it was a perfect alibi.”

“Do I even want to know?”

“Those were my wild days, my friend. I’m much calmer now. With looking after the kid and all.”

“I just decided, I don’t want to know - ever. Oh hello. Did you hurt yourself?”

Hermione took the hand that was offered to her and let the young man pull her up from the floor. One thing she still had to learn when travelling for longer periods: How to keep her balance. She looked up to thank the stranger and hesitated when she realized she knew that man. She had met him before - or would meet him later. His hair was still light brown and didn’t show the grey streaks she was used to seeing in it and there were fewer wrinkles around his eyes and mouth, but apart from that he looked so much like his older self, it was quite astonishing. He even wore the same kind of sweater - a gray, shapeless thing - he always wore and the same kind of trousers - also gray, albeit a darker shade, sharp iron fold down the front of the leg. He also wore a brown leather jacket that looked as if it had seen a lot of bad days and had been dragged through the mud more often than it should have - which was probably the case. 

“Remus Lupin”, he said with a lopsided smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. 

“Hermione Granger”, she replied. 

No reason to lie. She would have to obliviate him later anyways, because the law stated that if you ran into somebody you knew, you had to erase all evidence of your interference in the past to avoid any shifts in reality.

“Hi Hermione, I am Sirius”, the other man chimed in, elbowing his friend aside and taking her hand. “Enchanté to make your acquaintance, Miss Granger. My friend here and I have just had a bad day at the Ministry, so unless you work here, we’d be delighted to invite a beautiful woman like you to coffee and a bite.”

She had to remind herself not to stare. Where Remus had always looked like Remus Lupin, down to his hair- and clothing style, Sirius had obviously aged. Not in a bad way, mind. But he was in his fourties now and she had never seen him as anything but Harry’s godfather. This younger version of Sirius was - very confusing. He was a head taller than her, slender but muscled, just as she expected from someone who spent his life between being an amateur Quidditch Player and a pro Quidditch Commentator. He wore very dark blue jeans, a black t-shirt and a red and black checkered flannel shirt with rolled up sleeves that revealed an assortment of tattoos. 

His hair was long and wavy and he wore it pulled back in a ponytail. He hadn’t shaved for at least two days, the stubble contouring his angular, tanned face, and when he flashed her a smile, revealing a set of perfectly straight, white teeth, Hermione got the distinct feeling that her knees had just turned into pudding. Great. She had screwed up the time-travel, gone back way too far in time and immediately bumped into two people she knew all too well and one of them was so devilishly handsome he made it impossible for her to think straight.

Before she could stop herself, she had already leapt head-first into disaster territory. But then, she was stuck in this time with nothing sensible to do now until the time-turner-effect wore off (which could take between a few hours and a few days - and the department of Magical Mysteries had still not figured out, why the jumps were so inconsistent). Why not enjoy the ride? Smiling at Remus and his companion she gestured in the general direction of the floo-fireplaces.

“I happen to not work here at the moment” she said honestly. “And I am not against grabbing a coffee.”

Turning to Remus, she added: “You look like you might need one. Or a hot chocolate.”

#

“I had no idea!” Remus announced with a happy smile on his face. “That there was a hot beverage that contained both coffee and hot chocolate.”

“It’s called a Mexican” Hermione said, sipping a bit of her own steaming liquid. “And it’s literally the best invention since cleaning charms.”

Sirius watched them with a bemused expression and sniffed his own cup.

“Oh, look at you two cuties” he said. “You have no clue what the real treats in life are.”

Remus shook his head and frowned.

“Just because all your favourite drinks contain some sort of strong alcohol doesn’t mean our choice is less valid and fulfilling than yours.”

Sirius laughed.

“Go and care for a toddler who wakes up every two hours every single night and demands to be fed and we will talk about the merits of Irish Coffee again, my friend.”

“It’s not like you don’t have help”, Remus responded.

“Yeah, true. Kreacher is fantastic at childcare,” his friend responded sarcastically. “You should see him. His heart is overflowing with love for Harry. And old Mrs Figg is kind and a real asset as a housekeeper and occasional babysitter, but she sleeps like a log at night, is half-deaf and wouldn’t even wake up if the baby was wailing right next to her ear.”

A sudden realization dawned on Hermione. Sirius was talking about Harry, baby Harry, her friend Harry. That meant, she had gone back about twenty-two years. That also meant, there was a baby Hermione somewhere in this time as well. She felt like she was going to get migraines.

“Don’t look too stricken, Hermione, I’m not his dad”, Sirius announced with a wide grin and a wink that almost made her spit her Mexican across the table. Why did he have to be so attractive? And why did he have to be so damn sure of himself? 

“I’m his godfather. He’s our best friend’s son, Remus and mine. James and his wife were killed in the Wizarding War. It was quite a sad story. Child wasn’t even a year old.”

“And Sirius just magically grew up overnight and took on all the fatherly duties” Remus chimed in. The coffee and a chocolate brownie had lifted his mood immensely and he didn’t look half as ragged and tired as half an hour ago. “Nobody would have thought that possible. I mean, this man and responsibility didn’t really go together.”   
  


“Neither did James and you and responsibility, Moony. Or did I dream all the things we did together while we were still at Hogwarts?”

“Which ones are you referring to?”   
  


“The one where James pissed into Sluggy’s shoes as payback for detention…”

“... which then, if I recall correctly was traced back to him and ended with even more detention. No, you didn’t dream that.”

“The one where we pulled Severus’ pants down in the corridor with a charm…”

“... and Lily told you to stop. Yes, that wasn’t a dream either, but I had nothing to do with that. I never understood why you hated that poor sod so much.”

“The one where we had Peter dance an Irish Step dance on the Gryffindor House table on christmas…”

“... and he kicked over all the plates laden with food and all the goblets and spilled wine onto Lily’s favourite shirt and James almost killed both of us for it and Dumbledore saved us by escorting us out of the hall immediately. Yes, I remember, that was fun.”

“The one where that Ravenclaw girl you fancied almost found out about your furry little problem and…”

“Sirius!” Remus shot his friend a warning look.

Obviously, he didn’t want his werewolf-problem known to the stranger sitting across the table. Hermione decided she’d spare him the secrecy.

“Don’t worry” she said. “I heard you two talking earlier. Have you thought about taking wolfsbane regularly? That should solve the issue. You wouldn’t be able to teach for about two days around the full moon because as far as I know you feel nauseous and terrible the whole time - and have cravings for very bloody steaks - but you will be able to remain in your human form and not shift.”

Remus stared at her, bewilderment on his face.

“You… heard…” he croaked.

Hermione shrugged.

“Yes I did. Nothing terrible about it. Well yes, it must have been terrible when you got infected, but I mean, it’s not like you can’t do anything to handle the symptoms.”

Sirius sighed.

“You have no idea, Hermione. The Ministry takes a very firm stance against people like Remus. They wouldn’t have let him study at Hogwarts, but Dumbledore found a way - I still don’t know how he got that done. And yeah, wolfsbane is great, but it’s not like you automatically get a prescription-amount of it in a bottle by owl every other fortnight. You have to brew it yourself and the only one of our circle of friends who didn’t screw that potion up on a regular basis was Lily. And Lily’s…”

He sighed and rubbed his hand across his forehead as if he wanted to erase the thought of his dead friends. Remus sipped some more chocolate coffee.

Hermione had to recall how far back in time she’d gone. The legislation on werewolves had just been revised in her time and it had been incredibly bad before. Werewolves had not even been defined as humans in the old wording of the legislation but permanently been referred to as “it” and “the creature”. She watched Remus slumped in his armchair and pitied him for being born into times like these and being infected by someone like Fenrir Greyback, a man who had embraced the wolf and entered a lifestyle that didn’t shed a positive light on all other lycanthropes. Greyback had come from a bad place and the power and strength of the wolf had seemed a gift to him rather than a curse. It was said he liked to turn children so he could raise them in the midst of his pack, turning them into ruthless killers.

“So, what do you do for a living, Hermione?” Sirius asked, changing the subject to make his best friend more comfortable. 

She never had to come up with an answer to that question as right at that moment, a loud ‘pop’ was heard and an elderly, rather ugly house elf suddenly appeared on Sirius’ chair’s armrest. He wore a spotty tea towel and the expression of a creature that found pleasure in being malcontent. Hermione knew the miserable elf only too well and even though she usually had a soft spot for elves, this one was not her favourite.

“Kreacher!” Sirius exclaimed, almost jumping backwards out of his seat. “Merlin’s pants! I’ll never get used to you just popping up out of nowhere. And I told you to keep a half a meter distance from my face. I don’t appreciate having your nose this close to mine. What’s going on?”

Kreacher bowed, his nose coming even closer to his master’s face. Sirius pressed his back into the chair’s soft cushions.

  
“Kreacher has come to tell Master he must return home immediately. The squib woman has fallen down the stairs, the wailing child is wailing and hot and probably not well and poor old Kreacher was told to inform Master in case anything unusual happened.”

Sirius’ eyes widened in terror.

“Mrs Figg fell down the stairs? Is she all right?”

“She is very alright, Master, but cursing a lot and she can’t walk. She wanted to get some potion for the child from the kitchen, when she fell, I believe.”

“Harry is ill? He has a fever?”

“I believe the wailing child is suffering from one of these Muggle infections. Times were much better when one did not get infected by that scum, because the mighty wizarding families knew how to steer clear of the muck.”

Sirius moaned and waved a hand.

“Go back to Grimmauld Place, Kreacher, sit Mrs Figg down somewhere where she’s half-way comfortable. I’ll be there in a minute.”

Kreacher vanished with another pop and Sirius covered his face with his hands.

“Merlin’s beard! I can’t believe it! I can’t care for a sick child. I can’t even care for a perfectly healthy one. I am a total failure in this position…”

He looked devastated.

Remus reached out and patted his friend’s arm.

“Come on, Pads, we’ll manage. I’ll come with you and get Mrs Figg to a hospital and you can look after Harry.”   
  
Sirius still looked unhappy and Hermione noticed his slightly trembling hands. He was scared of making a mistake, of doing something wrong, of betraying the trust that James and Lily had put into him.

“I’ll come with you” she said calmly. “If you want me to, I’ll come with you and help you with the baby. I have a few younger cousins, I have done my fair share of nursing, when I was younger.”

She liked to stay as close as possible to the truth when time-travelling, so she didn’t get caught up in her own net of lies. Of course, Harry’s and Ginny’s children weren’t really her cousins, but family-ties always sounded more convincing than “my best friend’s children”. 

Sirius muttered something along the lines of ‘not necessary - so very much appreciated though - hope you don’t mind the chaos’ and they made their way to the backyard to apparate. 

“I’ll take you side-by-side”, Remus offered and smiled at Hermione.

She noticed a glint in Sirius’ eyes when he watched his friend put his arms around the girl they had only met a bit more than an hour ago, but perhaps she was imagining things. Someone like Sirius Black didn’t usually go for someone like Hermione Granger. She wasn’t ugly, but she definitely wasn’t the kind of supermodel-attractive she expected him to like. Which was good - considering that he was her best friend’s godfather and she really shouldn’t stare at his jeans-clad ass so much, even if it was an exceptionally nice ass.


	2. Chapter 2

Mrs Figg had broken her hip, at least it looked a lot like it and Remus set off to get her checked by a medic and have her drink some Skelegrow. He was adorable around the old woman who tried to pretend she was perfectly fine while the pain flashed across her face whenever she moved her leg. She was so sorry about the fuss. The baby had a bit of a fever and she had wanted to fetch some herbs from the kitchen. And did they really think she needed to go to the hospital. Perhaps she just needed to sit here for a bit and it would be fine afterwards. Remus explained that it was better to have a professional have a look at her injury and assured her he would look after her cats in case she needed to stay in hospital for the night. No, it wasn’t a problem at all, he loved cats. 

Sirius waited until they had vanished and then led Hermione up the stairs - passing the portrait of a really nasty relative, Walburga Black, that he kept covered by a thick curtain at all times - and into a small chamber which stood in complete contrast to the rest of the house. 12 Grimmauld Place in general still looked much darker and dingier than it did nowadays and even in Hermione’s time it wasn’t the most welcoming place on this earth. It had been the home of many a generation of Blacks and they had put more emphasis on traditional values and blood purity than on homely comfort. Harry’s room though, was a bright and colourful spot in the general dimness. Sirius had put light green wallpaper on the walls and hung up a lamp that looked like a dragon. There were two tiny dark green armchairs and toys were strewn everywhere. Next to the cot in which a sleeping but clearly feverish toddler lay, sat a gigantic brown teddy bear.

Hermione beamed.

“Oh Sirius, this is so lovely.”   
  


“Kreacher thinks it’s terrible”, Sirius responded, looking down at the sleeping boy. “My brother and I grew up in a dark-brown cell without anything that even resembled a toy. We played with our shoes, pretending they were puppies. Kreacher thinks that if that was good enough for us it should be good enough for the ´blood-traitor child’.”

He sighed and sank down onto his knees next to the cot, stroking Harry’s hair back, revealing the boy’s lightning-bolt shaped scar. The almost arrogant cool facade had broken and there was just a sad young man left, who had not been loved as a child, who had lost one of his best friends to a war he had not been ready to fight and who felt completely out of place in this world and in the position he was now in.

Hermione knelt down next to him and put an arm around his shoulder, then leaned over the baby and checked its temperature with her hand. 

  
“It’s only a light fever”, she said calmly. “We’ll have to keep an eye on him, but chances are he’s just going to sleep it off.”

Then she turned to Sirius, forcing him to look her in the eye.

  
“You are doing a fantastic job here. Don’t let anyone tell you differently.”

“They threatened to take him away if anything happens. They don’t trust me. There are other relatives. Lily’s family. They are muggles. I went by their place and watched them. They are horrible people. I don’t want him to have to grow up with them. But…” his voice faltered and he closed his eyes for a second.

“I never wanted children. I never even thought about having one. I am not the type for that kind of thing. I… I feel like I am not grown-up enough to handle this.”

Hermione shook her head, then turned towards him and pulled him into a hug.

“Listen, Sirius Black” she whispered, her lips only an inch away from his ear. “You are going to be a fantastic godfather to this boy. He’s going to grow up knowing how brave his parents were. He’s never going to want for affection and love and he’s going to grow up to be a good person.”

Sirius had stiffened slightly in her arms before returning the hug.

“You can’t know that!” he said. “I might do something terminally stupid and…”

Hermione shook her head. She was going to have to obliviate him anyways. The good thing about obliviation was that feelings could not be completely erased, they could even be used to re-activate the memory and somehow bypass the memory charm which was handy if you were interrogating people. Even after the memory of their conversation had been removed, Sirius would still feel more confident about raising Harry. 

“You won’t” she said and pulled out her time-turner, dangling it in front of his face. “I know him personally. He’s a pretty okay person.”

Sirius stared at the time turner, than at Hermione, then back at the time turner.

“Bugger” he murmured. “You’re from the future aren’t you?”

She nodded.

“Bugger” he said again, shifting his weight and pulling back out of the embrace a little. She could have sworn he was blushing but as his complexion was rather dark, she couldn’t be entirely sure.

He rubbed his forehead, then stood up and nodded towards the door.

“Let’s go downstairs so we don’t accidentally wake Harry up. I have a charm set up that when he cries, I can hear him anywhere in the house. Tea?”

Hermione nodded and followed him back into the kitchen - the only other place in the house she had seen so far that didn’t look as fire and brimstone as the rest, as Sirius had attempted to cheer things up by adding red-and white checkered cushions and tea towels to its interior. The young wizard prepared an old-fashioned copper kettle, then sat down on a chair next to the one Hermione had occupied.

“So. Hermione from the future. Is that your real name anyways?”

  
She nodded.

“Because you will have to obliviate me and Remus at the end of this anyways.”

She shrugged apologetically.

“I thought as much.”

He turned around and fetched a tin box from the counter. When he opened the lid, the most marvellous smell wafted through the air.

“They aren’t pretty, but they taste fine”, he said sitting the box down on the table and taking an oddly shaped cookie out. “I had my little cousin Dora here and we baked together. She’s a little peculiar and I get the impression she’s madly in love with Remus, but she’s adorable. And a bit clumsy. I think we are the only two people not yelling at her for constantly breaking things. She dreams of becoming an Auror once and everybody just flat out tells her she can’t because she’s clumsy. Nothing in the Auror job portfolio says anything about clumsiness being an impediment and I refuse to let these people end up right, so I have started teaching her some charms. She’s a natural at transfiguration, can change the shape of her nose into a pig’s snout and stuff.”

“I know her” Hermione said, choosing a chocolate chip cookie from the box. “She’s an Auror.”

Sirius’ smile couldn’t have become any wider. His eyes gleamed.

  
“Do you know you just made my day so much better, Hermione? Not that it hasn’t already been brightened by you showing up in the first place.”   
  


She grinned when he bent over to kiss her forehead. Hermione hoped he couldn’t see her flushed cheeks from his position.

“Damn” Sirius said with a laugh, resting his hands on her shoulders. “If Dora’s old enough to be a proper Auror in your time… and you know my godson... you must be so much younger than me.”

Hermione laughed as well.

“Well, I guess, I just gave that away”, she responded leaning her head back against his abdomen.

The kettle began to pipe and Sirius set off to make some tea.

“I assume you take milk?” he guessed.

Hermione nodded.

“No sugar?”   
  


She nodded again.

“Thought so. You’re a girl with taste.”

He came back at the end of a procession of two cups with saucers, a full teapot and a small jug of milk. He was humming a tune and the utensils danced merrily in front of him following the movements of his wand until slowly settling down on the table. Not a drop was spilled. Sirius sat down with a satisfied smile on his face. He looked incredibly young, much younger than he actually was. Hermione had the impression she caught a glimpse of the eleven year old boy Sirius who had boarded the Hogwarts train for the first time. Excited for the adventure, happy to get away from his family, eager to meet new friends and even more eager to learn how to use his magical talents. 

An owl swooped in through a flap next to the fireplace and landed precariously close to the hot teapot. Sirius shoved it to the side a bit so it wouldn’t burn its feathers and removed the envelope from its claws afterwards. As he unfolded the parchment, a little frown appeared on his forehead.

“They want me to do an interview with the captain of the Holyhead Harpies.”

Hermione smiled.

“Oh, that’s cool, isn’t it?”

Sirius pulled a face.

“This is going to come across really shitty now, because it makes me look like a dick, but no, it’s anything but cool, because I might have done something a while ago that she wasn’t overly happy about.”

“Oh?”

“We were drunk. It was late. We had fun. I left in the morning and didn’t even leave a note. And no, I am not proud of it. If it’s worth anything: It was two years ago, before I had to become an adult and look after my godson.”

Hermione sighed. She knew enough about Sirius’ past. He had had his bad days before he’d been in charge of Harry, but he’d never gone back to his wild days afterwards, even when Harry was old enough to look after himself.

“Do you think she might have forgotten about that incident?” Sirius asked hopefully.

Hermione took a swig from her cup.

“Sorry, Sirius, but she’s a woman. We don’t forget. We’re like elephants.”

“Brilliant. Then I am screwed. She’s going to turn me into minced meat.”

“You should write your testament.”

“Yeah, I guess I should.”

They both chuckled and Hermione thought how odd it was that she got along so well with this younger version of Sirius. Not that she didn’t get along with Harry’s godfather in their time. She had met him a couple of times, but their conversations had hardly ever gone beyond small talk.

The colour of the fire suddenly shifted to green and they both turned to see Remus’ face appear in the flames.

“Ah. Good, you’re both there. How’s the boy?”   
  


“Harry’s fine. He’s still a bit feverish, but he’s sleeping. How’s the old lady?”

“She’ll have to stay the night and possibly the next one as well. Skelegrow needs a bit longer to work on elderly people. I’m getting some clothes from her home and agreed to play a round of Exploding Snap with her and her roommate afterwards, so don’t expect me back too soon.”

They both nodded and Remus’ face disappeared again.

“Handy invention, floo powder” Sirius said. “I always wonder how muggles do it.”

Hermione grinned.

“We have telephones” she said.

#

A while later, Sirius was just getting really excited about the concept of the Internet, when a loud wail began to echo from the walls. Hermione jumped off her seat, startled.

“Merlin’s pants!” she exclaimed. “I knew you charmed the place so you could hear when he woke up, but I didn’t expect it to be quite so noisy.”

Sirius grinned and made his way up the stairs. The young witch followed. When she entered the nursery, Sirius was already sitting next to the bed, the toddler on his lap. The baby had stopped wailing and was happily sucking on a milk bottle. Little Harry looked much healthier than before.

“I think the fever’s down” Sirius said, touching the baby’s forehead. “What do you think?”

Hermione followed his example and nodded. 

“Seems like he just slept it off” she confirmed with a yawn.

It was strange to see this baby and know that her best friend was the same person. It was already odd to know both young and old Sirius and Remus, but it was worse with baby and adult Harry, it made her brain hurt.

“Do you want children?” Sirius asked suddenly.

Hermione looked at him as if he had just enquired whether she wanted to grow a third arm. He lifted one arm in defense.

“I mean, you mentioned you have small cousins you look after sometimes and - you know, we are both at that age, where people start thinking about it and parents start asking about it.”

“My parents have come to the conclusion that asking me about my plans concerning the production of grandchildren is not a good idea and should be avoided unless they want me to leave the house immediately.”

Sirius lifted an eyebrow.

“So you don’t want any?”

Hermione shook her head.

“No… yes… it’s not as easy as that.”

He seemed genuinely concerned. He wouldn’t push her if she said she didn’t want to talk about it. But then, she hadn’t talked about it to anyone and she was safe here. He wouldn’t remember anything of what she told him.

“I would love to have one some day” she admitted. “But as it seems like the only man who deems me worthy of his flirtatious side comes from a family with a pure-blood-fetish who would never allow him to have a serious relationship with a Muggleborn, I guess my chances are low.”

Harry was finished drinking and already close to falling asleep again in Sirius arms. The dark haired wizard looked at Hermione with complete disbelief in his eyes.

  
“You are kidding me!” he said.

Hermione shrugged.

“No. Not really.”

“But… Sorry, if I am so blunt as to ask this but has there been a bad deterioration in male brain matter between this time and yours? Because when I look at you, I see a very clever witch and a very kind one. You knew about Remus’ furry problem and you didn’t back away. You knew you could cheer him up with hot chocolate. You offered to help us out with the kid and Mrs Figg even though it really didn’t concern you. And, sorry if I am overstepping any boundaries, but Hermione Granger, you are a damn beautiful woman and anybody who doesn’t see that needs their eyesight checked.”

She could hear he meant what he was saying. He wasn’t complimenting her because he wanted to be charming. And the fact that his feelings were genuine touched her deeply. A part of her brain was telling her to get out of this and quick but another part - which was screaming much louder - demanded she should stay. 

Sirius lay baby Harry back in the cot, then stood up and held out his hand to her. She hesitated.

“Afraid, Granger?”

She shook her head and let him help her up. They stood so close their noses almost touched. She could feel his chest rise and fall, see the exact pattern of his grey irises. His lips touched hers tentatively, then more demanding when she responded to the kiss, burying her hands in his curls. He pushed her against the light green wall, his hands on her shoulders, her arms, her breasts. Her pulse was racing.

“Damn” Sirius panted, stepping away from her. “Sorry about that, I just lost it. I’ve just… I don’t know.”

His eyes darted to the cot and Hermione giggled.

  
“Let’s not give the child a trauma” she said. “But I don’t mind you losing it again as soon as we’re out of this room.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This has a shitload of Remus in it and I hope it works somehow and doesn't just come across as a filler.   
> Also, yes, I put one of my signature-tropes in there, I just couldn't resist.  
> And I feel like 5 chapters might not be sufficient, but I am not sure what's going to happen next, because I just let this story run wild, wo we'll find out.

Sirius and Remus had shared a lot of things over the years. They had slept in the same dorm at Hogwarts, bought the same dog biscuits for Remus’ “furry days” and had both miserably failed at learning how to turn pumpkin juice into fire whiskey. They had lived in Grimmauld Place number twelve together for a while now. Sirius supported Remus through his werewolf-problem and Remus supported Sirius through the everlasting issues with his family and his recent issues with caring for a baby. They had fought against Lord Voldemort together, mourned for their dead friends together and their bond was as strong as any friendship could be. It didn’t mean though that Remus would ever get used to entering a room in the house he called his home to find his housemate snogging yet another witch.

“Oh great”, he said cheerfully. “I see the two of you had a good evening as well.”

They froze immediately and slowly turned their heads towards him. Remus shrugged off his coat, threw it over the back of the armchair that was not occupied by a curly-haired witch and a tall,dark and handsome wizard and walked over to the table to check if there was still tea in the pot and whether it still qualified as warm enough to drink.

“I had the most excellent conversation with Mrs Figg and her new friend, Martha. I know more about apple dumplings than I ever wanted to know. I think I might try to make some tomorrow, just to make sure the memory stays fresh. - You guys have been snogging for quite a while, haven’t you? This tea has adapted to room temperature and it has the consistency of tar. I think if you give that to an elephant you might well give the elephant a heart attack. Or very lucid dreams. Which would be interesting to watch.”

He picked up the letter Sirius had left lying on the table and whistled.

“Oh damn. Now I understand why you just ravished our new friend and most honoured guest, Sirius. They sent you your death warrant, I see. Do you want me to arrange anything special for the funeral? I could have a hippogriff dance on your grave or a troupe of veelas seducing everybody and turning it into an orgy - that might be quite suitable, don’t you think?”

Sirius had disentangled his limbs from Hermione’s and stood up, straightening his shirt and his hair. He looked a little embarrassed. 

“You’re pissed off, aren’t you?” he asked.

If the wolf had been strong enough on regular days to allow Remus to foam at the mouth, he’d have done so.

“We talked about this! Not in the living room! Not on work days! Not when you are alone with the child! And also, and I am adding this rule now, because I thought it was obvious but by the looks of it, it’s not: Not with a girl you only met a couple of hours ago! You are an adult, Sirius! And not half as much of a dick as a lot of people think you are! So stop behaving like an impulse-driven hormone-laden prick!”

Hermione almost started to laugh when she noticed how very much Sirius’ body language resembled what he would have done in his dog-form. He slumped his shoulders a little, pulled his head in and shuffled his feet. It was adorable.

“It wasn’t his fault” she announced, trying to get her hair back into the halfway decent state it had been in before SIrius had started messing with it. “He actually behaved quite gentleman-like.”

Remus sighed.

“That’s what they always say.”

Sirius shook his head.

“Sorry, mate. I don’t really know what happened, but…” he turned to Hermione. “Merlin’s pants, can we just tell him?”

She sighed and nodded, pulling the time turner out of her cleavage again.

“See this, Remus?”

He looked at it and she could see his features shift as it dawned on him.

“You’re from the future?”

“Yes.”

“A sex tourist from the future?” he asked, his eyes on Sirius again. “Because otherwise I don’t know if that makes it any better. It might even be more disturbing if she knows us in our older form.”

He watched both Hermione and Sirius make tiny avoiding movements.

“Oh, you do? So Sirius did not die by the hands of his Holyhead Harpies sweetheart? That’s great. And the fact that I also didn’t end up strangling him with my bare hands really gives me hope. How’s the baby?”

“He’s sleeping, but he’s better”, Hermione replied. 

Remus was one of these people who got angry, vented, and then went on with their lives. Funnily, the only other person Hermione knew who never carried a grudge for longer than five seconds, was his son Teddy. 

“What brings you back in time then, Hermione from the future?” he enquired. “As far as I know the ministry keeps those time turners pretty much under lock and key. So there must be a reason for your trip.”

She explained about the Harlem Convent and Mundungus Fletcher and how she had accidentally gone back much further than she had intended.

“You don’t strike me as the careless type.”

“I got distracted by a coworker. He’s a bloody nuisance.”

Remus grunted knowingly.

“Okay. So you are saying you are stuck here until the effect wears off. Then you can go back to the proper spot in time and keep good old Mundungus from once again almost starting a war, right?”

She nodded.

“And instead of - I don’t know, enjoying the marvels of our decade, you decided to spend some time with Sirius and me… well, Sirius mostly?”   
  


“When Kreacher showed up to tell you about Harry being ill, it sounded serious. I only wanted to help.”

Remus sighed.

  
“You’re too good for this world, girl.”

With that, he walked back into the kitchen, filled the kettle again and told them he’d just get a shower and could they please pour the water over the tea leaves when it boiled? After the door had closed behind him, they stood in awkward silence, until Sirius walked over to Hermione and lightly touched her shoulder.

  
“He doesn’t mean to be rude. I think he likes you.”

“He seemed upset.”

“I think he’s upset about pretty much everything in his life right now and doesn’t know how to handle it. He trained as a teacher but the ministry won’t let him teach, because of the lycanthropy. He doesn’t have any family or a proper home. One of his best friends died, one of his best friends vanished - and it is very possible that he was to blame for the death of James and Lily. Peter has always been a rat. He’d betray anyone if you just promised him the right things.”

Sirius sighed.

“But you know all that. He gets upset about my escapades because he thinks he doesn’t stand a chance to have a good life and he doesn’t want me to screw up too badly, because that might also spoil mine. I’d love to be able to give him some hope, but he is so sure he doesn’t have anything but loneliness waiting in his future...”

He suddenly stopped and turned towards Hermione.

“I know I won’t remember it later, but I just need to know this: You already told me, I didn’t screw up too badly raising Harry. But what about Remus? Is he happy in your time?”

He sounded deeply concerned and Hermione couldn’t help but admire the strong friendship these two shared. And her heart went out to this man again, who seemed so self-confident, almost arrogant when you first met him, but who was caring and loving underneath the surface. She hugged him tightly and kissed him on the cheek.

“Don’t worry. Remus has a child and a crazy but amazing wife in my time.” 

She decided there was no reason to let Sirius know that said wife was his young cousin. She remembered that Harry’s godfather had not been overly happy to see Tonks and Remus get together. It had taken him a while to accept their relationship, but afterwards he had been eager to be Remus’ best man at their wedding. She imagined this younger Sirius might get a little overprotective if she let him know about the developments that lay in the future. Even with oliviation, feelings could linger and that could mean he’d unconsciously keep Remus and Tonks apart, altering the course of time. She couldn’t risk it. Instead, she decided to give him another piece of positive information.

“And he’s been teaching at Hogwarts for almost two decades. I’d say he’s probably one of the happiest people on this planet.”

Sirius beamed at her and kissed her again.

“You just gave me a gift”, he said in a low voice. “You don’t even fathom how great this is.”   
  


Hermione smiled. The kettle was piping, so she poured the water over Remus’ tea, before sitting down on the table, dangling her legs.

“You have a special kind of friendship, Remus and you”, she said. “I mean you became an animagus for him, so he wouldn’t have to be alone at the full moon.”

“James did that as well”, Sirius said dismissively.

“But it was your idea, wasn’t it?”

She had never talked to Remus about this before. She knew Lily had supplied him with wolfsbane as best as she could throughout the years, but she had not always been able to get her hands on the herb. From his first year on, the other Marauders had joined Remus in their animal form and kept him out of trouble. It was extremely advanced magic for children that young and she wondered how often they had had to try before managing to do it properly. She had never given much thought to this nor had she wondered who of the Marauders had come up with the idea in the first place, but now, watching Remus and Sirius around each other, it was blatantly obvious. 

Sirius shrugged.

“He’s my friend”, was all he said. 

As if it was the most ordinary thing in the world to go to such lengths to make your friend a little more comfortable, a little less of an outsider.

“And I happen to really enjoy being a dog”, he added with a grin. “Girls like dogs. They always pet you. They make cooing noises. They ruffle your ears.”

“As if you ever had any problem with having girls ruffle your ears and making cooing noises when you were in human form”, Remus teased from the doorstep. 

He looked much more relaxed than before. His hair was still damp and he was wearing an oversized sweater and a pair of sweatpants.

“Borrowed one of your sweaters, Pads. Mine are all in desperate need of a wash. I am a little afraid to ask Kreacher to do it though. Last time, three of my favourite pullovers shrunk so much they’d only fit little Dora.”

“Feel free to give them to her. She’ll be delighted. She loves you anyways.”   
  


Sirius turned to Hermione with a wink.

  
“It’s adorable. ‘Uncle Moony this’ - ‘Uncle Moony that’... When Remus is in the room, I could as well be a piece of furniture, I just become totally unimportant.”

Remus pulled up a chair, got a mug from the cupboard and poured himself some tea.

“As you are usually the most important person - or animal - in the room and are therefore a spoiled brat, you should thank your cousin for giving you a lesson in modesty. Do we have any dog biscuits anywhere? I don’t feel like cookies. I could swear there’s fur down my back. I always thought that only starts growing regularly when you are much older.”

“Second drawer on the left”, Sirius responded. “And yuck, back-hair.”

Remus sighed, retrieving the dog-biscuits. He held out the packet to Sirius who dug in happily.

“As if being a werewolf isn’t shitty enough, you also become a hideous human with way too much body-hair”, he huffed. “It’s totally unfair.”

But Hermione could see, he wasn’t really fazed. Remus in his relaxed mood was much more at ease with the world and his condition. She could see his older form in him much better now and it made her smile.

“Guys, I have lost about seven rounds of Exploding Snap in a row against the elite of our elders and I feel like I need a positive moment today. So would you two care for a game?”


End file.
